The Most Offensive Verse

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

I recently recorded a Creation Moments program about the Trinity, as reflected in the first verse of the Bible. My reason for revisiting this matter is for two reasons. 1. I read a blog, entitled “Genesis 1:1 – the Most Offensive Verse in the Bible”, and 2. A recent visit from religious people to my door.

When we teach High School children to write essays, we expect them to lay out all the arguments for and against a proposition, with their conclusion. The Bible is not a High School essay! You will not find a discussion of the relative merits of arguments for and against the existence of God. Indeed, the Bible starts with the simple sentence “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This states that there was indeed a beginning, and that God, who must, therefore, have existed before that beginning, created everything.

I was recently visited by a couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses. We had a friendly discussion, during which I shared the Gospel – though they wanted to discuss points of doctrine, such as the Trinity. Having shown them a couple of verses that explain the Trinity, or the Deity of Christ, I pointed them to the first verse of the Bible, and explained how the word for “God” is triply plural, while the word for “created” is singular; best explained by the Trinity. For the first time in our conversation, these two men got very angry. They denounced my exegesis in all sorts of ways!

Jesus said, in Matthew 11:6, “Blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Yet all those who do not acknowledge Him will be offended by Him.

Prayer:
Help us, please Lord, to proclaim the truth of who You are. Help us to do this with boldness, knowing that it is You who created this entire universe, for Your Glory. Amen.

Notes:
Image: Adobe Stock Photos, license to author

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